IFBB Pro League – NPC Throw Fastball By IFBB International/Amateur

The IFBB became obsolete for all intents and purposes with a simple press release a mere two days after Olympia Weekend. No, not the IFBB Pro League that crowned Phil Heath as its champion for the seventh consecutive year, but rather the International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness, which is the amateur division internationally.

That IFBB will no longer be a second feeder system for IFBB pro cards, as the IFBB Pro League and National Physique Committee (the amateur league in the United States) put out a joint official statement that basically informs the IFBB Amateur league it is not welcome to the party anymore.

IFBB Pro League promoters will now be running shows all around the world (beginning with the San Marino Pro in November) that will be for any qualified amateur – regardless of their federation affiliation and that these (and NPC) shows are the only way to achieve IFBB pro status. This is a direct invite to potential competitors in IFBB Amateur shows.

This came on the heels of the IFBB Amateur breaking ranks with the NPC on September 16 after the latter’s judges were assigned to the panel for the Olympia Amateur in Las Vegas. The IFBB Amateur league felt that the NPC judges were not internationally qualified and should not be there; they eventually walked out in protest and an official statement was released informing the NPC that they were suspended by the IFBB.

On September 18, 2 Bros Pro Events ( a company created by Bob Cicherillo) released a statement that included information regarding four shows they have been sanctioned to hold in the United Kingdom and that the IFBB Pro League has “taken proactive approach to the amateur competitions and events held in the UK, Europa and Ireland.”

So without batting an eye, the IFBB Pro League created a new international amateur pipeline and, in the process, freeze out their former cohorts and now, apparently, their competition.